Dwyer 'had no criminal record'

Minister for European Affairs Dick Roche has said there is no indication from Irish authorities that the young Irishman killed in Bolivia, Michael Dwyer, had any criminal record here.

Mr Roche was speaking as efforts continue in Bolivia today to secure the release of the Tipperary man’s body after his violent death on Thursday, amid claims he was part of an assassination plot against president Evo Morales.

“This is a tragedy for the family,” Mr Roche said on RTÉ radio. “This seems to have come as an absolute bolt out of the blue.

“Twenty-four-year olds do trot around the world and the fact that they wear military garb doesn’t necessarily mean they have any military involvement,” Mr Roche said in reference to photographs of Mr Dwyer taking part in combat sports that were seen on his Bebo page

“My understand too is the Mr Dwyer had no form of record from any Garda source that would have suggested that he had any misbehaviour or had any record so I think one has to have huge sympathy for the family,” Mr Roche added.

“It is a dangerous part of the world … If he were involved, and I don’t know if he was involved with a security firm, that’s part of the story, but if he were the provenance of the story has to be checked and it seems to me there are so many parts of it."

Referring to pictures that emerged of the three bodies in a morgue in Boliva, Mr Roche said it was “most unusual” to see the hands of one of the deceased tied together.